Got a bootleg GBA game off eBay

[jamdr]

Okay so I paid $40 for a copy of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow on eBay where the auction stated clearly "not a bootleg, bought in the US". The seller had a lot of positive feedback and was in the US, so I thought I could trust him. So I got the game finally and it is obviously a bootleg. No serial number, blurry label, no copyright, crashes a lot, etc. I've tried emailing the seller but he won't respond.

The thing is, I have his home address and it is in the US where the game was shipped from. What do you think I should do? Is there someone I can report this to and get my money back?

[applekid]

eBay has resources for dealing with fraudulent sellers, so check those out.

And send an e-mail threatening to take legal action. If that doesn't bring him forward and if eBay doesn't help you, just sue him.

[Dagless]

i've been stung thrice by similar encounters with bootleg games. 2 games arrived (only 99p each, thought it was legit because they were 2nd hand and had no box), sent 1 back losing only the cost of a 2nd class stamp :P and sold the other off to somebody who didn't really care it was fake. the other... well... it hasn't arrived yet. in a whole 6 weeks. thankfully they're giving me ALL my money back. even if it was just £11.50.

if its a fake then file a dispute, claiming the item is not what the seller said it was. you can claim all your money back that way, eBay pays you and then gets the money off the bad seller.

post this on the eBay community boards too, the more people fight back against crappy bootleg game sellers the better.

[Jaffa Cake]

The seller had a lot of positive feedback...One thing you should definitely do then is give him some negative feedback – let other potential customers know what he's like!

[GFLPraxis]

eBay has resources for dealing with fraudulent sellers, so check those out.

And send an e-mail threatening to take legal action. If that doesn't bring him forward and if eBay doesn't help you, just sue him.

Yeah, right. No offense to you of course. You'd THINK they would, but trying to get eBay to do something about a fraudulent seller is like talking to a brick wall. I have experience.

But try anyway.

BTW; sue him over what, $40?

[Poff]

Yeah, right. No offense to you of course. You'd THINK they would, but trying to get eBay to do something about a fraudulent seller is like talking to a brick wall. I have experience.

That's what I've heard aswell.

[topgunn]

Did you pay with PayPal? PayPal is good about getting your money back to you. In fact they are sometimes too good. I know of a number of sellers who have stopped accepting PayPal because buyers are falsely saying they received bad merchandise or didn't receive anything (always ship via somone that offers tracking).

[Peterkro]

Okay so I paid $40 for a copy of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow on eBay where the auction stated clearly "not a bootleg, bought in the US". The seller had a lot of positive feedback and was in the US, so I thought I could trust him. So I got the game finally and it is obviously a bootleg. No serial number, blurry label, no copyright, crashes a lot, etc. I've tried emailing the seller but he won't respond.

The thing is, I have his home address and it is in the US where the game was shipped from. What do you think I should do? Is there someone I can report this to and get my money back?
You could tree getting in touch with the games creators they may have the muscle to do something.

[noelister]

I have purchased a bootleg copy of software in the past (unknowingly). I just complained and such. Both to PayPal and eBay, I eventually got my money back. Even if it was just 100 bucks (US). Best of luck!

[jamdr]

I have purchased a bootleg copy of software in the past (unknowingly). I just complained and such. Both to PayPal and eBay, I eventually got my money back. Even if it was just 100 bucks (US). Best of luck!
Yeah, it's only $40 so it's not like I'll be out a lot of money if I don't get it back, but it's more a matter of principle :p if that makes sense. It's just plain ridiculous that this guy claims right in his auction title that the game is not a bootleg and then has the balls to send me a bootleg game anyway. I sent him a threatening email and told him I would report him to eBay/PayPal/Nintendo/police if he doesn't give me my money back by Monday. He hasn't responded, though, and I don't think he's going to. I also got his phone number so I might call him, but I'm content to let the pros handle this one. Thanks for the help guys.

[Dale Sorel]

Problems with merchandise purchased off of eBay... what a surprise :rolleyes:

[Mord]

report him to nintendo with pictures of the game and his home address and his ebay history.

[cubist]

$40 is a lot of money for a GBA game. I'd start with Paypal, too. They are very good about pursuing this. In a week you'll probably have your money back.